In the last month I have had the pleasure of working with and devoting time to the youth in our community. We had the honor of hosting the Riverbend CEO Program for the fourth year in a row along with having story time with St. Mary’s kindergarten and first grade classes.

The Riverbend CEO Program is a business oriented program concentrated on developing business skills for high school students. From a personal perspective I find this program as beneficial not only for the students, but also for myself. I always start with an overview of our business operation with a concentration on the administrative duties, explaining business management procedures as well as business growth, plans etc.

However, my favorite part of meeting with the CEO Program is the Q&A time, because this is where I learn. You would not believe the profound questions that come from these amazing young people. Many of the questions they ask make me pause and think about how we do things and what we can do differently to stay current. For example, some of the questions this year were:

1) How to plan for retirement when self-employed?
2) Succession plans so that the business will live on?
3) Outsourcing certain administrative tasks such as accounting and payroll?

Lesson learned. Don’t underestimate our youth in this country. They are very intelligent and will accomplish things we never thought possible.

I also had the privilege this past week of having story time along with a Q&A session with the kindergarten and 1st grade classes at St. Mary’s Elementary. I cannot express just how fun this event was. The students were so well behaved and engaging and the staff so welcoming. I feel it is so important for these young people to have this interaction with local business owners and professionals within their community. It’s a positive and real influence in their life.

In closing, the main ingredient for success is time. Time with our youth in the community we love. Foster, love and support these young people. They are the future. I have faith we are in good hands.

Until next time, Baker Ben